Fremont: Red-light camera victims won’t get all their money back

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The city of Fremont has admitted it bungled the handling of yellow signal
light timings at two intersections along Mowry Avenue in 2016, which led to
a spike of tickets issued by automatic red-light cameras. Seen above, a
Redflex red-light camera facing the intersection of Mowry Avenue and
Farwell Drive on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. Photo by Joseph Geha.

Drivers who collectively received more than 1,000 red-light camera tickets last year when yellow lights were shortened at two Fremont intersections now may be shorted in their reimbursement.

In February, the city admitted fault in a snafu that contributed to a spike of tickets issued at the Mowry Avenue/Blacow Road and Mowry/Farwell Drive intersections after yellow lights were shortened without city management’s knowledge.

Hans Larsen, the city’s public works director, said that month Fremont intended to work with the Alameda County Superior Court system to try to reimburse drivers who received the tickets.

“We’re recommending that we waive tickets for a two-month period, so basically an adjustment period,” Larsen said in February.

But in an interview last week, Alameda County Superior Court Executive Officer Chad Finke said the court system will not join the city in trying to pay back some of the ticketed drivers.

“Institutionally or globally, we’re not doing anything,” Finke said. “If people still feel they were incorrectly assessed that amount, they can always come in and get in front of one of our traffic commissioners and make their case, and seek to have a traffic commissioner order a refund.”

Larsen had stressed that although yellow lights at the two intersections were shortened from 4.7 to 4 seconds over a nine-month period and the number of tickets spiked during that time, all were legal under state law that regulates the timing of yellow lights.

“But we recognize that there is, and I think looking at the data, in terms of ticket issuance, that there is an influence that a sudden change in yellow time can have an impact on ticket issuance,” Larsen said.

Though drivers who contest their fines in court may end up paying different amounts, red-light camera tickets in Fremont typically cost $490, of which $147 goes to the city. The rest of the money is distributed to various local and state entities, including the courts.

“That money has already been distributed,” Finke said. “At least from the court’s perspective, I don’t see any way that we would be able to recall that money back.

“It’s already been sent out to all these different entities and I’m not sure how we’d possibly get it back,” he added.

Larsen and the Fremont Police Department both declined to elaborate on details of the city’s plan for reimbursing drivers, including how much money they’re willing to shell out to drivers deemed eligible.

“It’s still an issue, a work in progress,” Larsen said. “We’ve not decided internally how this is going to roll out.”

On the police department website, a statement about the yellow lights says, “Any motorist who is determined to have been affected by an automated red-light citation at these intersections between February 1, 2016, through April 7, 2016, will be contacted by the City of Fremont via US mail.”

Last week, police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques said in an email “it would be premature for us to give a statement about ongoing matters.

“We are hoping to wrap this up soon, possibly by next week. Once we finalize everything, we will make it known and anyone affected will receive notification from the city,” she added.

Joseph Geha is a multimedia journalist covering Fremont, Newark, and Union City for the Bay Area News Group, and is based at The Argus. His prior work has been seen in multiple Bay Area news outlets, including SF Weekly, as well as on KQED and KLIV radio. He is a graduate of California State University, East Bay (Hayward), and is a Fremont native. He is a lifelong Oakland Athletics fan.